Your leading law firm for IT, privacy and digital transformation

Burden of proof in a claim of information breach

The burden of proof following the Facebook ruling On March 15, 2023, the District Court of Amsterdam issued a ruling in a class action against Facebook (ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2023:1407). This is an interesting ruling, because the court discusses in detail the application of the GDPR, such as the possible joint processing responsibility within the Facebook group and

How do judges rule on GDPR right to access requests? Copy or no copy?

The Court of Justice of the EU has clarified whether the right of access from Article 15(3) GDPR also gives a right to a copy of the documents in which the personal data are recorded. This is only the case if that copy is necessary for an understandable and verifiable right of access by the data subject.

Update on the use of cookies

The rules for being allowed to store and retrieve cookies are laid down in European and national laws and regulations. The rules specifically for cookies are based on the European ePrivacy Directive, which has been implemented in the Netherlands in the Dutch Telecommunications Act (art. 11.7a). The rules concerning the processing of personal data –

How should online search engine operators deal with requests for removal of links to (allegedly) inaccurate or fake third-party content?

Online search engine operators (‘search engines’) are often faced with individuals (applicants) requesting that an online negative publication or review about them no longer be indexed (linked) in the engine operator’s search results. In doing so, it is often argued that that negative publication or review would contain inaccurate or false information. For example, a

Annual Review of Privacy 2022

2022 was a year in which the (European) legislator, judges and regulators made plenty of noise in the field of privacy law. Numerous legislative initiatives at both the European and national levels saw the light of day, and more than once did the Dutch Data Protection Authority advise the Dutch legislator to pay more attention

Annual review of IT 2022

The year 2022 shows a multitude of legislative and policy initiatives related to IT and data at the European and national levels. The European Commission took seriously its President’s 2021 call to shape digital transformation, especially in the areas of data, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. At the national level, we also saw a lot happening

GDPR & international transfer: deadline December 27, 2022

Last year, on June 4, 2021, the European Commission published a new model contract (in English: “Standard Contractual Clauses” or abbreviated “SCCs”) for the transfer of personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area (“EEA“). The old model contracts were no longer to be used for new transfers of personal data as of September

ARBIT 2022 – IT supplier obligations further tightened

On 10 September 2022, the new Arbit (General Government Conditions of IT Procurement) terms and conditions came into force. These Arbit 2022 replace the earlier version from 2018. These terms and conditions are used by the central government, such as ministries, independent administrative bodies and regulators as well as other public authorities for the procurement

Seminar “Duty of Care and IT Supplier”

After giving a seminar on the IT supplier’s duty of care in Eindhoven this summer, we have decided to give the seminar again at our location in The Hague, of course supplemented with relevant new case law and insights. In conflicts between IT suppliers and their customers, we are increasingly finding in our own litigation

Eu data act part III: the data act and databases

The proposal for the EU Data Act (“Data Act“) has been on the table since 23 February 2022 and is part of the European Commission’s European data strategy. With its strategy, the European Commission aims to boost digitization and give both stakeholders and businesses new opportunities regarding data. The Data Act makes it easier for

Cybersecurity on a higher level? The NIS-2 directive

In the European security agenda, originating from 2015, cybersecurity was one of the major focus areas. Since then various legislations in the field of cybersecurity have been introduced as part of the EU-strategy to make Europe more digitally resilient. Various cybersecurity incidents and an evaluation of the cybersecurity legislation in place since 2015, have urged

Seminar “Duty of Care and IT Supplier”

In conflicts between IT suppliers and their customers, we increasingly notice that the special duty of care of the supplier is invoked. What is the impact of the duty of care on the interpretation of the agreement between parties? Does it bring unpredictable obligations for ICT suppliers? Is it a legitimate fallback option for inexperienced

EU Data Act part II: unfair terms on access to and use of data between companies

The European Commission is building a European data economy. Within its Digital Single Market strategy, the European Commission is trying to stimulate data exchange within the EU through policy and regulation. In this context, on February 23, 2022, the European Commission presented its proposal for the EU Data Act (“Data Act”). The Data Act follows

Proposed guidelines for the imposition of fines

The European Data Protection Board (‘EDPB’), composed of representatives of the EU national data protection authorities has drafted new guidelines with respect to the calculation of fines in case of non-compliance of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’). These Guidelines complement the previously adopted Guidelines on the application and setting of administrative fines dating from 2016, which focus on the circumstances in which to impose a fine. This post outlines the main elements of the proposed guidelines and sets out the differences with the current national guidelines.

As of 28 May 2022, the legislator sets strict requirements for online reviews

Consumers are increasingly searching for, comparing and purchasing products and services online. They more and more rely on reviews and recommendations from other consumers. However, these consumer reviews are not always reliable. For example, sometimes positive reviews remain online longer than negative reviews, or consumers even receive a form of reward in exchange for a

legal cloudsourcing strategy

Our 10 key lessons learned contracting model – customers may contract with a cloud service provider directly or indirectly via a cloud reseller / integrator, although in practice it is not always very clear which parties are contracting with each other for which type of services (cloud-, maintenance / support – or professional services) and

Turing Law: a new technology firm

As of April 1, 2022, lawyers Tom de Wit, Huub de Jong, Esmée Fonville, Marijn Rooke and Moo Miero will continue their practice under the new name Turing Law, supported by Morgan Remijnse as office manager. Turing Law is an independent boutique firm specializing in IT, data, privacy and digital transformation. Developments in these areas

data act: another building block for the eu data strategy

Data has become increasingly important to achieve the social and commercial goals of companies and other organisations. The European Commission expects the data economy in the EU to be worth €829 billion by 2025. In order to achieve effective data governance, every organisation will have to go through a number of steps. A good understanding of

annual update data privacy

The General Data Protection Regulation celebrated its third anniversary in 2021.  Privacy is a subject that is now on the agenda of most organisations. Moreover, the developments in this area of law are moving fast. The European and national legislators are not sitting still, and the same can be said of the supervisory authorities. Also,

look before you leap: avoid (too) strong dependence on your ICT supplier

Healthcare processes are rapidly digitising and the Corona pandemic has only accelerated this process. The use of ICT to support or improve care is now a must. Because ICT has become so important for the delivery of care, healthcare institutions have become increasingly dependent on their ICT suppliers. That dependence has also increased because healthcare

personal data breach notification: an update

The General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) entered into force over three years ago. At the time, in our GDPR blog series, we explained the most important changes the GDPR would bring about for organisations, including changes relating to the personal data breach notification and the competence of the national supervisory authorities to impose fines. In

intellectual property rights after Brexit in a nutshell

On 24 December 2020, the negotiators of the European Union (‘EU’) and the United Kingdom (‘UK’) reached a Brexit deal containing the new rules that will apply between the EU and the UK from 1 January 2021. Although the European Parliament has yet to give its final approval to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the